Oxford will not get carried away by Watford win – Matt Bloomfield

Oxford boss Matt Bloomfield is aware his side’s “massive result” against Watford still leaves them with a lot of work ahead.

The U’s ended a four-match winless run thanks to Myles Peart-Harris’ 19th-minute opener and substitute Mark Harris’ stoppage-time strike.

It put Oxford on course to escape the Championship’s drop zone but relegation rivals Portsmouth’s last-gasp winner at Middlesbrough left Bloomfield’s side in the bottom three with four games to play.

“It was a massive result for us but we’re not getting carried away,” Bloomfield said,

“We’re still below the (relegation) line and still have a lot of work still to do. But we’ve given ourselves a real chance and I think we would have taken that a few games ago.

“The most important thing was getting three points today but I thought the manner in which we played was extremely satisfying, especially second half.

“In the first half it was hard for us against a strong wind. We got our noses in front and then ended up sitting in a little because we couldn’t get out.

“But to play with the energy and intent that we did in the second half was great, it felt like we were on the front foot.

“It would have been nice to have got the second goal earlier to make it a bit more comfortable, because at 1-0 with the calibre of individual players that Watford have, it can turn at any moment.

“We wanted to get another clean sheet because we built that platform when we arrived and haven’t had one for a little while. We had a few big players, big characters step forward today.”

Watford coach Ed Still was unhappy with the two goals conceded, and felt his mid-table team were second best in too many areas as their winless run stretched to four games.

Still said: “We haven’t been good enough. We haven’t matched Oxford in terms of aggression, in terms of adapting to this type of game at this time of the season.

“Everything becomes more intense, more power-based and we haven’t been able to deal with it well enough.

“To lose the game on a set piece, second ball – a very similar goal to the match against Charlton only a few days ago – and for it to be killed off by a mistake from us at the end there is extremely frustrating and makes you angry.

“I think everybody felt we weren’t able to match them, and to create sufficient moments in the game where we could dictate the play.

“They’ve just exploited their strengths to the utmost, with that set piece goal early on, and the bobbly pitch and the wind as it is, they have dealt with all of those factors much better than we have.

“The dressing room is extremely down and everybody knows that the aggression that we’ve shown wasn’t enough.

“I want to make sure that players, staff, everybody involved in the club, turns around this bad patch of form we’ve had in the past couple of weeks.

“Then there’s an overview that’s needed to understand what the deeper issues are, and to act on it in the summer.”